Will you pray with me?
Loving God, we offer these words, these meditations of our hearts to you in joy and praise. Amen
I have a confession to make – or maybe just a threat in exasperation. I just need to hear myself say it. I can’t take it anymore. The stock market, our investments, 401Ks, TDAs down 400 points, up 200, down 550, and now back up 500 plus on Friday. It’s too much. I’ve decided I’m going to bury all our assets, our investments in the back yard. I know just the spot – that corner of the yard where we can’t grow anything anyway. I see some nods of agreement. Honestly, I have caused myself further grief with the content of this scripture and now this sermon. If you’re like me, you’re probably confused, too.
The gospel writer Mathew is really weaving a potentially complicated story here, isn’t he? A wealthy man leaves and trusts his slaves with his treasures. In those days, a talent was said to be worth about two months wages, so today…do your own calculation…that could be several thousands dollars. Not insignificant. So leaving that kind of money with your slaves is not typical, right? So two slaves invest what is left to them, the third one buries it. The story tells us that those who took risks – who ventured forth to build and increase their investment -- were the winners. The one who buried the talent – who, in some way, protected it – was deemed worthless and reduced to weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sound a bit confusing? It’s important to keep in mind that this same gospel also warns the people that Jesus would eventually leave, die on the cross, and return to earth to gather the faithful. In the context of this metaphor, that means he’d come back and see how everyone did with their investments.
What a challenge this gospel reading is for us in today’s world. The stock market is in turmoil, our savings rumble and tumble daily, and we are justifiably concerned. So much of what we fear is how to manage our lives. We know the stock market goes in cycles, and so do our lives. Sometimes the cycles surprise us – and even have the potential to isolate us. This reading is about an investment strategy, but not about money – but you probably knew that. This parable challenges us to invest our lives as God calls us to do. Jesus Christ taught us how to see and reap the benefits of our investments of time and talent. This kind of investment is managed by the Bank of Faith in Jesus Christ.
Most of us, if we have lived in the world for some time, realize we are blessed with different gifts – sometimes different from the ones for which we yearn. I really wanted to be a professional baseball player – made strides and progress but it was not to be. Think of your own dreams that are kept as secrets, and not your life as it actually turned out. Regardless of our dreams and paths, here we all are together, just as we are, just who we were called to be by God. Rather than separating us, our different talents blend together in a colorful mosaic of God’s creation – one body in the love and service of Jesus Christ.
Our faithfulness in our endeavors to invest our time and talent so often leads us to more joy, a different kind of success, and to deeper meaning in life and faith. In a recent NY Times column by Nicholas Kristof, he notes that income doesn’t have much to do with happiness. He says, “Americans haven’t become any happier as they have prospered in the last half century.” Evidently, even winning the lottery doesn’t make people happier in the long term. What seems to matter much more is having good friends and family – like our community here at DUC. We know in our hearts that we are promoted in our endeavors by our authentic faithfulness. Jesus teaches us to keep reaching for more of what makes us whole, what makes us shine in the grace God has given us in creation. These are good, safe investments.
This passage teaches us also that God calls us to invest our lives as best we can, not compared to others. One man had five talents the other two and the third one, but all were equal in the beginning, regardless of their personal investment strategies. Accomplishing a little is far better than sitting back and withholding our gifts. Sometimes we feel like we are far out of the spotlight in our culture. Sometimes we are called to do great things. Either way, not trying is not a viable option based upon the gift of life that has been given to us.
Our Confirmation class begins its program with Bible study, beginning with Genesis and a discussion about Abram and Sarai, his wife. In Genesis, God calls on Abram to pick up and move with Sarai. They are both well on in years. Abram is 75 when God promises him children, saying that “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” God tells them that they will bear sons, and while they wonder how that might be, they go. In fact, they go at once to heed God’s call.
The story of Abram and Sarai goes on until Abram – eventually called Abraham by God – is 99 years old. God calls both of them to lead – not just physically, but in trust and faith as well. There is no mention in the Bible that Abraham and Sarai were more worthy than others. This is the mystery and the process
There was a man and a woman who fell in love in high school. They dated and hoped to marry as soon as they could. Eventually, they eloped and incurred the disappointment of their families. `The man, named John, went to college and to medical school where he became a surgeon. He also was an accomplished musician; disdaining sports for band in high school. John seemed to have a sense where his real talent was centered. In college he played in swing bands and became a colleague of Hoagie Carmichael in the late 1930s. He toured with Paul Whiteman for a year before he began medical practice with his father a, general practice physician. A dream come true for the father – not so much for the son. John’s wife, named Mary, lost interest in college and returned home to work until they were married “officially” in 1936.
John and Mary had three kids in the next ten years, as John’s health began to fail. John knew he would not survive his kidney failure disease. There was no such thing as dialysis and focused antibiotics then as there is today. He and Mary did their best, and John died in January of 1948. Returning home from the hospital the night of John’s death, Mary sat in shocked silence as grief crept into the room like a thief in the night. She took their life dreams of twelve years, folded them neatly into a treasured memory, and prayed to address the dreams malfunction in the morning.
Mary couldn’t give up with three kids, ages two, four and six. She soldiered on with her faith in God, her companion in the Holy Spirit and her favorite prayer – God will never give me too much to handle. Mary did the best she could because she believed the God she loved stood by her all the way. Mary never gave up. She never stopped offering her real self to her family and her friends. Throughout her life, she managed her portfolio well, from her heart and soul. As you might have guessed, John and Mary are my parents. While I was only two years old when my dad died, my mother played the dual prominent role in my life. I really miss my mom. She liked to be called Mimi better than Mary. I wish she was here today – physically, this very moment, to really absorb what her faith and dedication has meant to me and my sisters in our lives and since her death at 93 in 2006.
She did the best she could with all her talents. She never complained about anything in her life, even to the last moment. I held her in my arms during those last struggled breathes. I assured her it was alright to go to God, to be with my dad after 58 years without him. Soon, all her life’s work, her offered talents would he traded for the welcoming hand of God and a place in eternity. She had lived in faith, hoped and trusted in God, and now would experience God’s love face to face. What more could she want? With that she seemed to smile, took one last breath, and her spirit ascended to heaven.
Mimi’s life was complete. She had lived to the fullest of her ability, loved God with all her heart and soul, and stood strong for her children. She had nurtured her talents and provided a solid return on God’s investment in her creation. She worked with exactly what she had – there was nothing to wait for. Mimi was not a spend-thrift but a spend-generous. God calls us to give from our abundance, not to hide in a scarcity bunker waiting for the worst to pass over us. Mimi got that message fully.
All of us have been given skills and measures, talents and time to keep moving. I must say, I have never seen a more vibrant, can-do attitude in a church community as here at Dennis Union. It is truly one of the reasons I was drawn here to serve in ministry. In the passage, the man gave more talents to the ones who do more with their gifts. We have all been given certain opportunities, certain skills, and certain resources to finance our work in life. Let’s live out of our sense of plenty – the plenty that God’s love and our freedom affords us. You know what’s true – the more you use your talents, the more they seem to grow, regardless of time and age. Maybe you have said, or your parents said to you, use it or lose it.
I am delighted to be here in worship with you all. I cannot tell you how welcoming everyone has been this, my first week as your associate pastor. Let’s look at the things we all want in our lives here in church, and in our lives away from this lovely faith community. The danger, of course, is that we all get too carried away with ourselves and might spend more time holding up or reflecting on our talents than using them for the purpose God intended. But let’s try not to waste time. A friend of mine in Norwell has had a series of difficult surgeries for an aggressive cancer condition. He has a remarkable can-do attitude. Gordon made a decision to sell his Patriots season tickets so he could go to the
The worst thing this economic situation has done is to make fear our primary motivator, rather than trust in God. That’s hard – I know it. Our budget is down. How will that affect our faithful actions here in our church and our community? Maybe we’ll step up our investments of time and talent, and trust that God will take care of the rest.
In this time of reflection, we might make note of what it is we plan to offer and accomplish in the coming months and years. We know stewardship comes in the forms of time and talent as well as financial offerings. Adult education, the pick-up crew, church school, youth fellowship, confirmation mentor, caring visitor – what would you like to do to increase and share the talents you have been given by God? Or maybe it’s on the home front – a marriage to nurture, or some grandkids that have somehow become distant from you.
Maybe we need to communicate with God better than we do today. If our life investment and talent portfolio is down a bit, all we have to do is seek God’s presence and we will be embraced and renewed . That’s really good news. There is only one bailout plan that we can count on. Don’t wait. The servant in the passage was called good and faithful because he “went at once” to put his talents to work. Now that’s a truly safe investment.
Closing prayer.
Loving God,
Teach us to know your will more deeply in our prayer. You have managed to reveal many things to us in this time of life. Speak to us in your own way and in your own time. We are learning how to hear more what you would have us do with our gifts from you. Give us the calm and peace of the night all day long, so we do not miss your presence. We can hear your voice.
Amen
